Paris: Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska’s dream run continued as she became the first qualifier to reach the French Open semifinals in the women’s singles draw on Tuesday(October 6). She downed Ukrainian third seed Elina Svitolina with 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
“It’s a little bit difficult for me to speak after the match, thank you, everybody, for your support, I’m very very happy,” Podoroska said on court Philippe Chatrier. “We did a very good job with my coaches during the quarantine. That’s why I’m here today.”
The 23-year-old had won seven matches in a row at Roland Garros, and she kept the same momentum against Svitolina. The Ukrainian third seed broke her serve in the first game, but soon Podoroska fought and bagged five games in a row to move to 5-1.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Iga Swiatek outscored Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 to enter the semifinals on October 7. She will now face Podoroska in the last four on Thursday (October 8).
“It was pretty hard at the beginning because it was hard to get used to the conditions, and also I played all my other matches at 11 am so it was like playing in the middle of the night,” Swiatek said on Court Philippe Chatrier, “But I’m pretty happy with my performance.”
Had Trevisan won the game, she would set up an unlikely semifinal against Podoroska, but Swiatek brought the dream to end in just over an hour. “I’m really happy anyway,” Trevisan said. “Today was a really tough match. She’s a rising player, so she has a lot of positive energy. Today I close a very important chapter of my life. Tomorrow other chapters will begin. I’m just happy.”
